Travelteer

Travelteer is a program that exchanges students and other resource persons between the UK and Sri Lanka for sports development, sports for peace and English language.

Travelteer of UK and Sport for Peace, Education, Empowerment and Development (SPEED) of Sri Lanka have together launched a unique program through which the soon-to-be-professional young person from the UK has the opportunity to engage in heady adventure in one of the top tourist destinations of the world while contributing to the communities that give them that opportunity with knowledge-based volunteerism that has a real, durable, sustainable impact on the communities that they work with, leading to a wholesome, heady, responsible experience for all.

Together, travelteer and SPEED have created program tailor made for the undergraduate who appreciates responsible travel and ethical volunteerism through our Sports and English Program (SED) where the British undergraduate enjoys an adventure program that is better and more unique than any offered by mainstream business organizations at a fraction of the cost coupled with high impact contributions to grassroots development efforts.

How it works:

Travelteer requires students to fund raise a minimum of £100 for the minimum two week placement and £50 per week, thereafter. Travelteer assist and encourage students to fundraise through innovative ways, for example living under the poverty line for a week. All monies fund raised will provide educational and sports equipment/facilities at participating schools in Sri Lanka. Travelteers ethical volunteering, ensures that their projects are prioritised over profit.

Travelteer operates in parallel with our non-for-profit charity Travelteer Impact. Travelteer Impact safe guards all money fund raised and ensures that a 100% of the money goes directly to our cause. Travelteer’s ethical model provides financial transparency and governance to the money fundraised by the students.

What you get:

Areas: Travelteer implements its volunteer led programme in two districts; Galle (South West) and Trincomalee (North East), five schools have been selected in each district. Volunteers work in teams of up to four to plan and initiate daily activities for the programmes. Each volunteer team is assigned a specific school and long term volunteers mentor short term volunteers to provide cohesion and continuity of the programme.

Aims: Travelteer work towards sustainable outcomes. To achieve long-term sustainability volunteers work alongside teachers/local community coaches to enable continuity of the sports programme. In addition, Travelteer provides additional English teaching for staff when requested, to help further develop teaching and communication abilities.

Adventure Travel Tour: Travelteer offer UK students an exciting opportunity to explore Sri Lanka via an eight day tour prior to volunteer placement. This bespoke tour enables students to immerse themselves in Sri Lankan culture and gain a crucial understanding of Sri Lankan life and its values. It offers an opportunity to discover the hidden jewels of Sri Lanka that are off the main tourist route. Travelteers tour is specifically designed for students to learn basic skills essential for their time volunteering. Importantly, it gives volunteers time to bond and form relationships prior to their placement, which Travelteer believes is key to effective teamwork.